By Hannah Lazarte
For many people, a blank wall is a canvas waiting to be filled. They may fill it with photobooth strips, newspapers or their favorite posters. For senior Minna Nguyen, she filled her walls with paintings.
Once her house walls couldn’t hold any more paintings, she found her new canvas in furniture.
“Art doesn’t have to be confined to a canvas,” Nguyen said. “Art can be so much more.”
Nguyen’s journey began when she was four years old, when her parents enrolled her in Fibo Kids Art Academy.
At the same time, her aunt was in college and stayed at Nguyen’s house. While staying there, she gifted Nguyen miniature drawings. Inspired by her, Nguyen also found her own passion for art.
“Seeing [her drawings], I [realized] I wanted to be able to create pieces that were meaningful to myself and to others,” Nguyen said.
Nguyen’s closet doors, covered with her mural recreation of “The Great Wave off Kanagawa,” were one way she brought art into her daily life.
“It doesn’t feel right to just print [a painting] out on a piece of paper and tape it on my room wall,” Nguyen said.
Painting recreations, such as the one on her closet, also allows her to deeply connect with the artists by going through the same process. In addition, she can learn more about herself.
“[I was taught] how engrossed and passionate I can be about something and how hardworking,” Nguyen said. “[It gave] me a deeper appreciation for all different forms of art, a greater sense of identity and self-appreciation for myself.”
From recreations on canvases to paintings on furniture, Nguyen’s true wish for her paintings is that they’re appreciated and something people can connect on.
“Just like how my aunt would gift me drawings of whatever I wanted. I also want to be able to [do] the same for [others],” Nguyen said. “Maybe one day I could also inspire a kid to start their own artistic journey.”
